Annual Governors Report 2018

On behalf of all the Governors, welcome to Bishop Monkton Primary School.

For this academic year, we welcome a new member to the Governing Body. Mrs Cairns, who is not only a member of staff within the school but also a parent, joins our team as Staff Governor. We continue to have a very strong and dedicated team, with a range of expertise from differing backgrounds which we feel are able to provide, along with the Headteacher, the very best opportunities for learning and development that we can possibly give to the children who attend our nurturing village school.

Our principal aims as a Governing Body are to ensure that legal obligations are met, determining the aims for the school and monitoring and evaluating how effectively the school is working towards achieving them, confirming that the Headteacher is operating the school effectively and continuously seeking school improvement and that any public money provided to finance the school is used prudently.

This year we have seen a change in how our Governing Body works and we have introduced two committees: 1.Resources, 2.Standards and Curriculum. By doing this, we feel that we can use our time even more effectively in order to meet the needs of all children who attend Bishop Monkton Primary School. Each Governor is a member of at least one of these committees, which meet half termly. The Full Governing Body meetings also take place on a half termly basis and all findings from the committees are fed back so that we can all ensure that the school is running as effectively as possible. As Governors, we volunteer our services because we care for our school and want it to provide the best possible education for every child that enters its doors. Looking to the future, we remain focused on growing and improving our school. Last year saw many successes such as KS1 and KS2 SATs results as well as a number of sporting achievements. Primarily, these are down to the hard work and passion shown by the very dedicated staff team. They really do put our children first and the Governors would like to personally thank them for all the time and effort that they put into school; they are a real credit to us all.

Looking ahead to the future, we are conscious that we are due an Ofsted Inspection but feel that we have the information and skill set needed to ensure that this will be a positive experience.

Again, thank you for continuing to support the school. We feel privileged to have a community that put a great deal of time and effort into ensuring that Bishop Monkton Primary School is a continued success. We are positive and excited about the future and know that by continuing to work together, we really can make a difference in the lives of all who attend our school.

James Hobson and Amy Ross—Co Chair of Governors

Achievement

In the Summer term 2016 the DfE introduced new tests for Key stage 1 and 2 children which

reflected the new national curriculum. Outcomes for tests are reported as scaled scores, rather than levels, with scores ranging from 80 to 120. 100 is the national expected standard that a child should achieve. Children may be working towards this standard (WTS), working at the expected standard (EXS) or working at a greater depth within the standard (GDS).

Key Stage 2 Data 2017:

School

National

Reading: EXS

94%

71%

GDS

35%

25%

Average scaled score

108.5

104.1

Grammar, punctuation and spelling: EXS

94%

77%

GDS

41%

30%

Average scaled score

109.4

106

Maths: EXS

94%

75%

GDS

47%

23%

Average scaled score

108.2

104.2

Writing: EXS

100%

76%

GDS

35%

18%

Reading, writing and maths combined (at EXS or above)

94%

61%

Obviously the governors were delighted that all results were well above national.

Key Stage 1 Data 2017:

School

National

Reading: EXS

73%

76%

GDS

33%

25%

Maths: EXS

80%

75%

GDS

40%

21%

Writing: EXS

73%

68%

GDS

20%

16%

Reading, writing and maths combined (at EXS or above)

73%

64%

All the results are above national except reading at the expected level, this then will become the focus for our 2017—2018 school improvement plan.

Year 1 Phonics:

Early Years Foundation Stage:

Childrens’ Views

The governors speak to the children at several points throughout the year to assess their feelings about school, their learning and how they are taught. At the end of each academic year they also interview all the Year 2 pupils as they complete Key Stage One and the Year 6 pupils as they leave us to move onto high school. The questionnaire is to find out how the children feel about their learning and about all aspects of their time at Bishop Monkton School.

At the end of the last academic year the year 2 children gave excellent overall feedback. Nearly all the children felt happy to come to school and most felt they were taught well. Some examples of the feedback:

I love science with Mrs Coupland.

Favourite thing is doing maths, I like school as it is.

I love playing with my friends.

Happy at school.

The Year 6 leavers were also full of praise in their questionnaire answers. They all felt happy to come to school and felt that they had learnt a lot during their time at school. They unanimously agreed that they felt safe at school and that the were prepared for secondary school. This year we asked the children what they felt we could have done to improve their time at Bishop Monkton School:

I would like bigger lunch meals.

It would be nice if we had better computers and got more homework, but Bishop Monkton is pretty much perfect apart from that.

There is nothing that can be improved!

Feedback from Parental Questionnaire July 2017

Using the online Survey Monkey questionnaire for the first time we would like to thank all

parents who returned their questionnaires before the summer holidays. Your feedback to us is

important. You told us about the things that our school does well:

I am delighted with the progress my daughter has made at school.

It has been perfect in every way.

Her class teacher knows my daughter very well and knows how to get the best out of her.

A lovely class with a fantastic relationship with each other and their class teacher.

We have already recommended this school to other parents and whenever you hear Bishop Monkton School mentioned it is talked about in the highest regard.

Over 90% of parents stated that the school meets their children’s particular needs and that the school helps to develop the skills in communication, reading, writing and maths through effective teaching .

You also commented on the things that we could improve.

I feel we should have explanations about how things, especially maths, are taught so we can support at home by using the same methods.

Early in the Spring term the school will be holding a parents information evening to show progression in teaching methods from Reception through to Year 6 in maths and reading.

Books are rarely changed.

Class teachers have taken this comment on board and have endeavoured to set up systems that allow for regular changes to reading books. However please remember that reading is not a race, nor is it a

competition; steady, solid foundations built in the early stages of schooling create greater impact when

children are older. Teachers use their time to teach reading skills in either small, focused groups or whole class setting. Some are also able to offer additional time for 1-1 reading but the skills needed are taught through Phonics, English and Reading skills. Hearing a child read aloud is valuable whether it is done by a parent, teaching assistant or teacher. The important thing is they are being listened to.

Too many children that in our opinion would benefit from a school that knows how to teach and cope with certain behaviour issues..

We are an inclusive, church school with a broad range of children from a variety of backgrounds. We work with families, outside services, health and social care and special schools in order to meet the needs of all our children. Sometimes it takes time to make a difference to a child. We always try to

lessen any negative effects unwanted behaviour brings and use it as a valuable lesson for all children.

There needs to be more support for all children.

We would love to put more support in to all our classes. Unfortunately the school budget does not make this possible. When we have compared ourselves with 28 similar sized primary schools in similar

contexts, we are shown to provide twice as much support to our children compared to the others. This is because we do prioritise spending on this area and will endeavour to continue to do this, despite

significant cuts to school budgets.

To conclude 86% of parents feel that they are kept well informed and would recommend this school to a friend. With your support and partnership we can continue to move our school forward. Thank you.

Growth Mindset - A Mind For Success at Bishop Monkton

This year, at Bishop Monkton CE Primary School we have embraced the idea of developing a growth mindset within all members of our school community. The concept of Growth Mindsets is based on the work of Carol Dweck, one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of motivation. She

introduced the idea of Mindsets. Mindsets are beliefs about yourself and your abilities.

In order to develop this, we teamed up with Tony Swainston, a local consultant, who specialises in leadership and the principles of mindsets.

Pupils have participated in a range of activities to learn more about it and have tried to display a growth mindset in school (and at home). Through PSHE lessons and assemblies, pupils were taught how their brains work and how new connections are formed when we try new things and practise them, over and over. Pupils have learnt about famous and influential people who have succeeded due to having a growth mindset and not giving up on their goal. Also, and perhaps most importantly, teachers and pupils have embraced the language and the way of thinking that promotes using a growth mindset in all lessons.

Here are some quotes from our children about what it means to have a Growth Mindset:

"If you can't do something at first, you just have to keep practising and then you get better at it."

"If you make a mistakeit helps you to improve."

"You keep trying instead of giving up."

"It's about not giving up."

"If you get stuck you are learning."

We will continue to develop our work on growth mindsets at Bishop Monkton as we believe that developing growth mindsets improves outcomes for everyone.

There’s no easy way around it. No matter how talented you are, your talent is going to fail you if you’re not skilled, if you don’t study, work really hard and dedicate yourself to getting better every

single day. – Will Smith

School Games GOLD Gamesmark Award

We are delighted to announce that the school has been awarded, for the second year running, the School Games

GOLD Gamesmark award. This has been achieved by enhancing our out of school level 2 sports participation and the level 1 intra house sporting events.

A huge thank you must go to Mrs Coupland for all her hard work in planning and delivering these activities.

The Governing Body

This is made up of a team of people from parents, staff, community and the local authority. We all serve the school by providing strategic leadership, management and challenge. The governors are ultimately responsible for ensuring that every child receives the best possible education at Bishop Monkton School.

The Governing Body meets in full once every half term to oversee the vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school; holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils; and oversees the financial performance, making sure that its money is well spent. In addition to the Full Governing Body which all governors sit on, there are 2 main committees:

The Resource Committee whose main focus is to prepare and present to the Governing Body for approval an annual budget reflecting the priorities identified through the School self evaluation and set out in the School Improvement Plan. The committee also help develop medium and longer term financial plans for the school, taking into consideration pupil roll projections, staffing plans, class structure and plans relating to the repair, maintenance and development of premises.

The Standards and Curriculum Committee meets to review information and data regarding school performance including KS2 results. The committee monitor the achievement, progress and outcomes throughout the school and oversee the targets set for pupils achievement. The use of pupil premium funding and its impact is reviewed.

The team of governors are very proactive and are committed to making Bishop Monkton School the very best. The governors are grateful to you as parents and carers for supporting our school. By working together we can create a school which helps each child to be the very best that they can be.

Mrs Cowling will be absent from school for a planned operation from November 6th 2018 until January 2019. Mrs Cairns will be deputising in her absence.